In Extremis
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: Wes and Travis are assigned a new case involving the murder of a trust fund baby and car theft. Their case takes a turn that has Travis on end as evidence is discovered that may lead to the involvement of someone he knows. Unfortunately, things only continue to get worse for the detectives when a kidnapping halts their investigation. This story takes place after the series finale.
1. Chapter 1

In Extremis

"_Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come._"

- William Shakespeare

_Julius Caesar_

Chapter One

A crowd gathered outside at a pavilion downtown where most individuals waited around to donate blood to a few of the hospital's staff working a donation booth. Detectives, Wes Mitchell and Travis Marks, who was more reluctant, were among the crowd, waiting to take their turn, while the cockier of the two continued to drive his partner crazy with his usual, annoying antics.

"I can't believe I actually allowed you to drag me all the way down here, during the middle of rush hour no less, just so we can donate blood, especially when we can donate any other time and at a hospital," Travis complained as he stood beside his partner.

"First of all, our headquarters is not more than five miles from here, so it isn't very far, and in case you haven't noticed, we haven't had the chance before now to come down to do this as we've been busy trying to finish up the reports for our latest case," Wes replied without looking over at him. "If you hadn't have dragged your feet about writing up yours, then we could have been down here much sooner."

Travis glared at Wes as he asked, "Why are we even here? Why did I agree to do this with you? I hate needles and I hate giving blood. What if I were to get shot later today? I'll be in shorter supply than I already am. My blood is very precious to me."

Wes turned toward him and answered, "Giving blood is a noble act, Travis. There are a number of individuals every day, who need people like us to give up just a little of what we have so that they can live. You agreed, because deep down you know I'm right. Besides, I don't think you're going to be shot today, unless there's something I should be worried about?"

"If you're implying that I did something stupid, like piss off a shady character recently aside from those we've arrested during all our cases, then you'd be wrong," Marks responded and would have continued, but it was then that he noticed that the nurse Wes was about to go up to in order to have his blood drawn was exactly his type; flirty and super hot, then quickly cut in front of him, and walked up to take a seat in the chair at her station. "You can take that creepy dude to your left. I've got sexy nurse Barbie. How are you doing today, beautiful?"

"I'm good," she replied as Travis smiled up at her, ignoring his less than impressed partner. "I'm better now, now that you're here."

Travis smugly answered, "I bet you are."

Before walking over to sit down at the booth beside his partner, Wes shook his head as he responded, "You are unbelievable. How you can flirt with basically anything that moves is beyond me."

"You're just jealous," Travis replied as he and the woman continued to flirt while she gently began to draw his blood. "Just sit down and do what we've come here to do. Don't mind me."

"You mean, what I've come here to do," Wes answered as he finally allowed the paramedic standing above him begin his own IV. "Please, you weren't actually going to have your blood drawn, but you're doing it now because of yet another pretty face."

Travis glared at his partner as he responded, "I followed you here, didn't I? I said I would do it and I am, so shut up and let the guy beside you do his job."

Wes was going to let the subject die until he decided to speak up once more saying, "Oh, don't forget to get her number before we go, because I'm sure you're going to need that so that you and she can spend the night together, unless of course you already have other plans with that traffic cop that pulled you over last night for speeding."

"That didn't happen," Travis quickly replied as he glared over at Wes again, then turned to look back up at her. "I mean, it did, but I never gave her my number. She already had it from running my name… We don't have plans tonight, nor any time in the future. I am all yours, baby."

"You're all set, sir," the paramedic stated as he carefully finished removing the IV from Wes arm, while Travis continued speaking with the nurse helping him. "I just need to cover up the hole in your arm and you'll be set to leave any time, but I would recommend you take it easy for a few minutes to let the blood loss settle. There's some juice and a cookie beside you if you want them. They'll help with the wooziness."

Wes nodded and answered, "Thank you. I'm good. The cookie and juice only make the nausea worse for me. Are you finished over there, Travis?"

As the nurse leaned down to kiss him, Travis held up his pointer finger to indicate for a minute longer, then once he finished he responded, "Yeah, I'm finished here. We can go now. Captain Sutton will probably be calling us any minute to make sure that we're heading to our session with Dr. Ryan, even if we are now going because we want to. We've got about twenty minutes before it starts. I don't think we'll make it."

"Not now we won't," Wes replied as he and Travis slowly stood. "No thanks to you and Barbie over there."

"You're right, you're right," Travis agreed. "But she was totally worth it. I'll see you later, Ginger."

As they began to walk back toward their car, Wes stared at his partner as he asked surprisingly, "Ginger? Her name is Ginger?"

Travis smiled as he answered, "Actually, her name is Gina, but she's got that same color hair as Ginger from Gilligan's Island, same build, as well as that sexy beauty mark just like her. Everybody calls her Ginger."

"As if she didn't have all that done," Wes scoffed as he looked down at his cell phone to read an incoming text while Travis began to drive. "You're pathetic, Travis. And incredibly shallow. It looks like we're going to have to skip therapy for today. We just got assigned a new case. Sutton wants us back right away."

"It must be important if the man's willing to let us skip our class," Travis responded as he turned around and headed back toward their office. "It's too bad. I was looking forward to sharing today's experience with the group. And last night's too. That cop was mighty fine."

Wes rolled his eyes as he asked, "Why can't I have a normal partner?"

Travis replied as he patted Wes' shoulder, "Face it bro, you wouldn't trade me for anyone else. You had plenty of chances, especially when we were about to split up last month after nearly botching the take down of Crowl and his men, but you chose to stay with me. You like me and you know it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," the blond detective answered. "I must have been temporarily insane when I told the captain I'd rather stay where I was."

"Yeah, that's it," Travis responded as he looked over at his partner. "For the record, you're a great partner, man."

Wes relented as he said finally, "And a good friend. Although I'll never really understand why that's the case."

Travis smiled and then stated, "Ditto."


	2. Chapter 2

In Extremis

Chapter Two

After speaking with their captain about their next case, the two lead detectives drove to the vacant lot where a body had been discovered by a group of construction workers planning to tear down the building right beside it due to a number of violations not taken care of by the building's owners. The body was that of a young man between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two and upon examining him, Wes and Travis found that he had been brutally stabbed multiple times, then finally shot in the head.

"Talk about major overkill," Travis remarked upon standing up from kneeling over the body. "There are at least fifteen stab wounds. Somebody sure hated this kid. What are you thinking, Wes? You look like you're confused, or maybe just deep in thought. I can't really tell with you."

"I'm guessing that from the more shallow gashes, this kid was tortured first, the wounds becoming deeper the longer the torture session lasted," his partner answered as he continued observing the body. "He obviously lasted quite awhile, but I'll bet that the gunshot to the head means that he finally talked and whoever did this, now have whatever information they were looking for."

Travis nodded, then replied, "Man, tough break."

Wes continued as he asked, "The real question is, what kind of information could this kid possibly have that would warrant such brutality?"

"That's what our investigation is for," Travis responded sarcastically.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," the blonde detective said in frustration as he watched Travis pull out the young man's wallet. "Any identification?"

Travis pulled out a couple of cards, including his driver's license, and answered, "Well, according to his license, this guy's name is Harold Ramis. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this ID is a fake. I wouldn't be surprised if we were to discover a ghostbuster costume, proton pack included, at his apartment, if we can even find out who he really is."

Wes stood as he glared at his partner and replied, "That's funny. However, I think you're definitely right about…"

"About him having the ghostbuster costume and proton pack at his apartment?" Travis asked jokingly as Wes grabbed the ID from his hand.

"About this card being a fake," Wes responded curtly, then looked around at the crowd that had gathered around them to observe the crime scene. "We should ask the onlookers if any of them witnessed the body dump."

As they both noticed one of the observers start to slowly back away upon overhearing the detectives, Travis spoke again saying, "It doesn't look like we're going to have to."

As soon as the teenager took off running, Wes and Travis quickly took off after him as Wes shouted, "Why do they always have to run?"

The two detectives chased the young man three blocks while running through the numerous obstacles he threw in their way, such as garbage cans, mailboxes, and wood crates that had been stacked up outside of an old warehouse nearby, but the chase abruptly ended when Wes ran into him from the opposite direction after taking an alternate route to cut him off. Travis picked the kid up off the sidewalk and shoved him up against a car parked beside them, while Wes stood and brushed himself off, as dirt covered his clothes.

"What are you doing?" the teenager cried as Travis began to cuff him. "I didn't do anything!"

"You made us run!" Travis answered angrily. "I hate having to run after criminals and perps."

Wes quickly replied, "He does, he does hate to chase down our perps, so I suggest you help us out by explaining why you ran or I'll let him bring you in. Believe me, you don't want us to do that. I can't be held responsible for what he might do."

Travis angrily responded, "You can start by telling us your name."

"My name is Joey Franklin," the teenager answered finally. "And I ran because I don't want to be seen talking with two cops."

"Let me guess, you don't want to be seen talking to us because you're involved with a gang and they don't like a snitch," Wes replied as he noticed a gang insignia tattooed on his neck.

Travis stared at the kid as he asked, "You're involved with a gang? Kid, how old are you?"

Joey responded angrily, "I'm sixteen. And I'm not a kid."

"You are just a kid and a stupid one at that," Wes answered curtly as he got into his face. "You're only going to get yourself killed way too early. Do you know who our dead man is?"

"Man, no I don't know who he is, but whoever they are, they wanted his ride awful badly," he replied as he shoved Wes backward once Travis finished undoing the cuffs.

Travis quickly stated, "Hey, take it easy. Otherwise, I'll take you in for assaulting a cop. What do you mean someone wanted his ride? Are you saying you saw someone steal his car, or bike, or whatever he drives?"

Joey looked toward one of the apartment buildings nearby, then responded, "I saw a group of men drag your guy out of that building and into the lot behind it where his car was parked. Their own car was parked out front of the building. Two of the men got in it, but the others drove off in your victim's. That thing was sexy hot; a brand new Porsche 918 Spyder."

"A car like that must cost well over $800,000.00," Wes said quickly. "How does a kid living in these parts afford a car like that?"

"He can't, unless the car's stolen or there's something different about this kid," Travis answered as he looked over at his partner. "If we can figure out which apartment is his, then maybe we can figure out how he got his hands on a Porsche."

Wes nodded and then turned back to Joey as he spoke to him saying, "Thanks for the help, kid. And take my advice; get out of the gang of yours before you become too involved with them and no longer can't. You'll one day regret it if you don't, trust me."

As Joey ran off in the opposite direction of the detectives, Wes and Travis headed toward the building that the kid had pointed to in hope that they'd be able to find the right apartment, then Travis spoke up again as he asked, "Trust you? What was that about? I saw the look on your face when you tried to encourage him to leave his gang? What do you know about gangs?"

"I'd rather not talk about it," Wes replied grimly. "Just leave it alone."

"All right," his partner responded with a shrug. "Okay, I'll leave it alone, for now. Let's try to find out who our victim really is before the day is over. Surely someone around here knows him."


	3. Chapter 3

In Extremis

Chapter Three

After trying to speak with several tenants of the apartment building they had been directed to and having most of the doors slammed in their faces as they asked for information in regards to their victim, Wes and Travis finally found someone willing to cooperate, a young woman who directed them to an apartment on the seventh floor. As the detectives entered, they found that it was a mess as a struggle had definitely taken place here, but were surprised to find a number of expensive things inside, including one of the biggest flat screen TVs they had ever seen, a surround sound stereo system, and one of the most expensive models of a laptop currently on the market, things that a regular twenty year old could in no way afford unless the items were stolen.

Travis whistled, then spoke up saying, "Wow, I am impressed. I think it's safe to say that our guy was definitely involved with something big in order for him to afford all this. I wish I could afford equipment like this."

The young woman that showed them to the apartment spoke up from the doorway as she had remained there to observe the detectives, responding softly, "Kyle wasn't involved in anything, detectives. He wasn't a thief and he certainly never hurt anybody."

"His real name was Kyle?" Wes asked as he looked over at her. "Was he your boyfriend?"

"He was, but we broke up a few weeks ago," she replied sadly. "His name is Kyle Moore. He is… was a good man, I swear."

Travis looked around again as he asked, "I'd like to believe you, but if he was such a good guy, then how on earth can he afford all of this and a brand new sports car, which is one of the most expensive ones on the market?"

She looked between them as she answered, "Kyle just came of age a few weeks ago and inherited about ten million dollars."

"He was a trust fund baby," Wes responded as he understood what the young woman was trying to say. "That's a hell of an amount to inherit, especially at such a young age, and it explains all of this stuff."

"If he told her the truth about how he got it," Travis replied skeptically.

Wes nodded, then spoke to the girl again asking, "Listen, miss…."

She quickly interrupted, "Abby. My name is Abby Bynes."

"Abby then," Wes said. "You said that you and Kyle broke up a few weeks ago. What was the reason?"

"I'm not really sure why," she answered as she looked over at the blonde detective. "I mean, he and I were only growing closer. I loved him and he loved me. When he came into all that money, we celebrated for a week. We even had plans to find a new house and move in together, but then one day, out of the blue, he suddenly just said that we were over. He never told me why and he wouldn't speak with me after that, no matter how hard I tried to get him to. He stopped taking all of my calls. I can't believe he's dead! I don't understand!"

As she started crying, Travis walked over and took her in her arms to comfort her, while Wes responded sadly, "I'm very sorry for your loss, Abby. We certainly appreciate your help and we promise to do whatever we can to find the men that killed him. I just have one more question. Do you know his family, the family member who set up the trust fund in Kyle's name?"

She pulled herself away from Travis and fought back her tears as she replied, "I was surprised for sure, as was Kyle. He didn't know that his family was wealthy, as his mother and father were poor as mud. I mean, they lived here, in this crummy old apartment building. When they died a few years ago, all Kyle had to support himself was the money he had saved up and was earning from his job at the law firm he works for. He was a paralegal there and was hoping to one day become a lawyer. Anyway, he told me that the attorney that got in touch with him said that it was his aunt that set the fund up for him. Kyle didn't know he had other family and he tried to get in touch with her, but she wouldn't see him."

"Thank you for your time, Abby," Travis spoke again as she turned to leave. "We'll be in touch if we have any more questions… or developments."

"We're going to need to look into this mysterious aunt, as well as into Kyle Moore's background," Wes stated as he watched her leave the apartment and then continued to look around, while Travis opened up their victim's laptop in order to see the kinds of things he looked up on the internet or what files he had saved on it. "Abby certainly seems sincere. If Kyle is indeed the man she believes him to be, then it looks like the people who killed him were after his money. They may have tortured him in order to gain access to his banking information."

Travis looked up at his partner, who was looking through a stack of photos he had found in Kyle's nightstand beside his bed, and answered, "You may be right. Did you find anything interesting?"

Wes shook his head as he put them down, then responded, "They're just pictures of him, Abby, and it looks like some of their friends. There's also a few with him and I'm guessing his coworkers. We definitely need to talk to the people at the law firm he works at as well."

"What's wrong with you?" Travis asked when he noticed his partner's demeanor had suddenly changed as he came across another photo he found partially underneath a law book lying on the floor at the bottom of his bed. "You've been moody all day, even more than usual, especially after that kid mentioned he was in a gang. What's going on in that head of yours?"

"I'm fine," Wes replied barely audible. "I… uh…"

Travis moved to stand in front of his partner as he stared at him and asked, "Wes? What is it?"

The blonde detective looked at Travis as he answered nervously, "You're not going to like this. It's a picture of Jason with three other guys on bikes. It looks pretty shady."

"What do you mean, Jason?" Travis asked brusquely as he quickly grabbed the photo and took it away from Wes. "Oh my God, my brother Jason. Why would Kyle have this? This was obviously taken over a year ago, as Jason's in prison, but… This can't possibly be the reason why Kyle ended up dead. There would be no point to killing the kid to hide this. Two of these guys with him are in prison too. They're two of the other baby face killers, though I don't know who this third guy is. There has to be a logical explanation."

"I don't know, Travis," Wes said worryingly. "This is the first lead we've found and it doesn't look good."


	4. Chapter 4

In Extremis

Chapter Four

Travis stared at the photo for several moments without saying a word, until Wes finally interrupted the silence by waving his hand in front of his face and saying, "Earth to Travis… talk to me. What are you thinking about? Please tell me that you're not planning on doing anything stupid or half cocked."

His partner made a move toward the door as he replied, "I'm going to see Jason."

"Mm, mm, no way," the blonde detective quickly responded in objection as he shook his head. "You can't do that. It's not a good idea."

"What do you mean it's not a good idea?" Travis asked. "We need to find out if Jason has some sort of involvement in Kyle's murder, don't we?"

Wes stared at his partner as he answered, "Yeah, I mean… Someone needs to talk to him, but it shouldn't be you. You may have been to visit him since he ended up in prison, but this is different."

Travis looked directly at his partner and said adamantly, "I'm going to talk with him, man. I don't care whether it's a good idea or not. He may be a killer, but he's also my brother. Besides, he won't talk to anybody, but me."

"All right, then I'm going with you," Wes replied just as stubbornly. "You don't have to do this alone."

"If you insist," Travis responded. "We'll go first thing in the morning. I'm too tired to get into this tonight and I doubt the warden there will allow us to see him now anyway."

The next morning…

After getting the proper clearance from the people in charge at the prison where Jason was currently a ward at, both Wes and Travis waited inside one of the penitentiary's interview rooms for the guards to bring Jason in. It didn't take long and as soon as he arrived, he smiled smugly at the two detectives, then sat down and chuckled.

He spoke up first saying coolly, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the brother who turned against me and the man who nearly killed me. What exactly is the special occasion?"

Travis was about to say something until Wes quickly cut him off as he said, "For the record, I wasn't trying to kill you when I shot you, although I can't say I wasn't tempted. I was only preventing you from hurting my partner."

"Let me guess, you two are buddy buddies again," Jason stated as he looked between his brother and his partner. "Travis told me all about how the two of you couldn't stand each other, but it looks to me like you've put aside all your differences. How's it working out for you?"

"We're not here to talk about us," Travis answered as they sat down as well. "I need to know if you know a man named Kyle Moore."

The criminal stared at his brother and replied, "I've never heard of him. Should I have?"

Travis felt his frustration rising as he responded, "That's funny, because my gut is telling me otherwise. You see, he knew you, or at least he knew of you."

"We found a picture of you speaking with two of your baby face buddies while on your bikes, as well as with someone else we don't know, yet," Wes continued as he put the photo down in front of Jason, whose expression changed as he looked at it. "Kyle had it in his possession. Now does the name ring a bell?"

"Before you think about lying to us again, we spoke with our captain this morning before coming here, in order to have him do a background check on Kyle, this unknown subject in this picture, and to see if there's any correlation between any of you," Travis said before Jason could speak. "If there's a connection, we will find it."

Travis' brother looked at them angrily as he answered, "I don't know him and as for this other guy, he was an old friend, long since dead. He's no one you need to concern yourselves with. I take it that this Kyle Moore you're interested in is dead. He is, isn't he?"

Wes ignored the question as he picked up the picture, placed it back in his coat pocket, then stood up and replied, "We'll see. I'm sure we'll be seeing you again soon. You know Jason, if you thought to help us out a little, and your cooperation helped us find the men we're looking for, that is if you're not involved, then it would most likely be beneficial to you. Maybe even knock a few years off your prison sentence or at the very least, get you better privileges around here."

"Thanks sharpshooter, but I'm good with the way things are," Jason responded coldly after standing up and moving to stand directly in front of Wes, then shoved him backward into the far wall. "I suggest you leave the visitations to just my brother."

"Hey!" Travis quickly shouted as he moved to stand between Wes and Jason to protect his partner. "Stop it, Jason. If I need to talk to you again, I'll come alone. We're leaving. I'll see you later."

After leaving the room, Wes spoke up again saying, "Prison certainly hasn't improved him at all. So much for rehabilitation. I always said it was a joke, for killers and rapists I mean, not necessarily for everyone."

Without looking at him, Travis answered, "I know what you mean."

"Look Travis, I don't know if Jason's involved, but you know that if he is, then there really isn't much more they can do to him, except maybe make his accommodations a little more uncomfortable," Wes said upon seeing the troubled look on his partner's face.

"Not necessarily," Travis replied as he finally looked at him. "If Jason really is responsible for having Kyle killed, they may change his deal already in place and upgrade him to the death penalty."

Wes responded, "Don't be such a pessimist. Let's just work the case and we'll worry about it if it comes to that. By the way, thanks for having my back in there."

Travis shrugged as he answered, "Hey, what was I supposed to do? Let you hit him back? He would have pummeled you into the ground before the guards could have gotten in there to pull him off you. He was state wrestling champ four years running back in high school. You wouldn't have stood a chance."

"Thanks, I appreciate the vote of confidence," Wes stated disdainfully.

"That's what I'm here for," Travis spoke again with a smile. "Let's get back. I need to find something to take my mind off all this. Maybe we'll get back in time to see Brady and Scott get humiliated for screwing up Kate's and Amy's investigation. What do you think?"


	5. Chapter 5

In Extremis

Chapter Five

When the two detectives arrived back at the LAPD's headquarters, they noticed that the captain was speaking with Kate, Amy, and Brady and Scott because Brady had said something to the press that he shouldn't have, as he's done multiple times in the past. He's a glory hog and tends to be a little too gung ho when working a case, even if it means stepping on the other detectives' toes in order to receive the credit. Both Brady and his partner have been in trouble more times than not for going too far.

It's a good thing Captain Sutton doesn't approve of firing anyone unless it's necessary, otherwise Wes and Travis would have been fired many times over for all of the antics they pulled or because of the number of times their bickering caused a set back while working their cases.

"I knew they'd be in trouble again," Travis stated as he smirked. "He'll never learn."

"No he won't," Wes answered in agreement. "I guess we have to wait for the captain to finish disciplining them to see if he's found anything on Kyle or our mystery guy."

They watched as Sutton stood and shooed them out of his office, then began to walk toward them as Travis responded, "Not for long. He doesn't look real happy."

As their boss made his way over to them, Wes quickly replied, "Nor would you be if you were about give bad news."

"Now who's being a pessimist," Travis stated as their captain stood in front of them.

"Why is Wes being a pessimist?" Sutton asked.

Wes quickly answered, "I'm not, captain. Were you able to find anything out about Kyle or our guy from the photo?"

Captain Sutton nodded and responded, "It looks like what your victim's girlfriend said about Kyle Moore was true. He was a good kid and he did come of age to inherit the trust fund set up for him by his aunt, who I don't believe is really is his aunt. I wasn't able to find anything on the woman. It's like she didn't exist. Whoever she is, she doesn't want to be found and there's also no explanation as to why she decided to give Kyle all that money. Kyle Moore is the sole survivor of his entire family. As far as I can tell, he has no living relative after his parents were killed in a car accident three and a half years back."

"If this woman is still alive somewhere, she may be the key to figuring out this strange mystery we've stumbled into," Wes replied as he looked between his partner and their boss. "But since we can't find her, maybe the attorney that brought Kyle into this might be helpful. I might be able to track him down. I just need to make a few calls. I'll be right back."

"Who do you think he's going off to call?" Mike asked Travis as they both watched the blonde detective walk off.

Travis shrugged as he answered, "I don't know, maybe Alex. She is an attorney too after all, or maybe another lawyer friend from his past. He doesn't speak too much about his days as a lawyer."

Captain Sutton nodded and responded, "It's because he's still ashamed of those days. Something like that isn't forgotten or forgiven easily. While we wait for him to come back, I also had Kendall do some digging to try to find out who the unknown guy in your photo is. She's still working, but so far she found out that his name is Lee Kato and he's got quite the record, mostly murder. Now, he's a known hit man working for the Wah Ching gang right here in Los Angeles."

"Great," Travis replied sarcastically. "That's just what we needed. Wes and I have had a run in with them before. They don't cops."

"Who doesn't like cops?" Jonelle asked as she walked up behind them. "I can understand why no one would like you."

Travis answered smugly, "Everyone likes me, except you."

Kate walked by them as she quickly stated, "I don't like you either."

"Maybe so, but…" Travis retorted until he was cut off.

"Focus Marks," the captain snapped in frustration. "Jonelle, did you find something on Kyle Moore's body?"

She looked between Sutton and Travis as she responded, "Actually, I did. After washing off the blood that coated most of his skin, I found that your victim had a newly needled tattoo across his shoulder blades. I did a little research and I discovered that the design looks to be the mark a certain Chinese gang's kill."

Travis replied, "Let me guess, the gang marking their kill are the Wah Ching. We already figured that out. It looks like you came up here for nothing."

"Actually, I didn't," she said again coldly as she held up two photos for them to observe. "I said the symbol looks to be the symbol of the gang's kill, but upon closer examination, I noticed that there was a mistake. Look at the picture on the left. The picture on the right is an actual picture of the tattoo. The one on the left is of the tattoo on Kyle's back. If you look closely, the mark is reversed."

"You're saying that whoever painted the tattoo on Kyle's back isn't actually the member of the Wah Ching, but someone who wanted us to believe that they killed him?" Wes spoke up as he came up behind Travis and their captain and looked over their shoulders to see what they were all looking at."

Jonelle smiled smugly at Travis as she answered, "Very good, Wes. He wasn't even here for most of our conversation and he's already figured it out before you, Travis."

Travis glared at her as he responded, "Very funny. Go back down to your hole you work in and let us do our jobs."

"I was going to say that," Travis spoke again once Jonelle walked off and he turned to look at his partner. "Why do you have to outsmart me in front of the women every chance you get?"

"I wasn't trying to outsmart you," Wes replied. "I was only stating what Jonelle was trying to get at. However, it isn't hard to make you look bad, especially in front of her. Sometimes you just make it easy. What did I miss?"

Mike spoke up again as he answered, "Your partner will fill you in on your way to talk with that lawyer, who I'm assuming you found, Wes?"

Wes nodded as he responded, "I did. It took me promising to do a favor for the guy I spoke to later on, but I'll deal with that when it comes."

"Good, let's get going," Travis said as he walked toward the door, following his partner. "I'm hungry. Let's stop off at that new food truck parked down the block."

"It's too early for lunch and you already had breakfast on the way in to work this morning," the blonde detective replied. "Why would you want that junk right now?"

Travis smiled as he answered, "First of all, that food truck serves fantastic barbeque pork sandwiches, not junk food. Second, it's never too early to eat such a delight, even if I've already eaten."

Wes shook his head and then responded, "Fine, we'll stop. It will give us more time for you to fill me in on what I missed."

"There's one thing we know for sure and that is that our mystery man in the photo you found at Kyle's apartment is definitely involved in this mess somehow," Travis replied. "He's a killer, but I don't know if he's the killer we're looking for."

"Either way, he's going to be trouble when we find him," Wes stated in frustration. "The Wah Ching is dangerous and if we're looking for someone involved with them, then we're going to have to brush up on whatever fighting skills we've got."

Travis asked, "Do you know any kung foo?"

Wes shook his head and said, "Do I look like I know any kung foo? Kung foo or any other kind of martial arts isn't exactly something I thought I would ever need. If luck is on our side at all, then we won't need anything more than our badges and maybe our guns. I guess we'll find out, if we can even find the Wah Ching."


	6. Chapter 6

In Extremis

Chapter Six

As Wes continued driving toward the meeting place where they were to meet up with the attorney, after Travis had him pull over to get an early lunch, Travis quickly explained to Wes what he had missed while he went off to make the calls, information about the unknown subject in the picture, Lee Kato, now being a hit man for the Wah Ching.

Once he finished, Wes spoke up asking, "Do you have any idea why Jason would be connected to Kato? I mean, anything more than to hire him for a job?"

Travis thought for a moment as he shook his head, then responded, "If you're asking if my brother hired Kato to kill someone for him, I want to say no, but… truthfully I'm not really sure anymore. I never thought Jason could be capable of murder either, but clearly I was wrong about that. I suppose it's possible. Even if I wanted to know for sure, there's no way Jason would ever tell me now."

"In your gut, do you truly feel that he's involved in whatever's going on here?" Wes asked again.

"As I said, I'm not really sure anymore," Travis answered sadly. "I hope for his sake, and mine, that he's not. So, how did you find out the name of the attorney that delivered the fortune to Kyle? Did you call Alex?"

Wes shook his head and replied, "Alex and I aren't really talking much these days. She's met someone and…"

Travis quickly interrupted mockingly, "She's met someone and you didn't tell me? Who is he and how did they meet? Shame on you for not bringing this up in therapy."

"We're not talking about Alex right now, Travis," Wes responded in frustration. "If you must know, I called an old associate; Trent Conway. He and I didn't get along real well back when we worked against each other, as he didn't care who he trampled on in order to earn the big paychecks for winning his cases. Conway's one of the best defense attorneys I've ever known and a real bastard. He frees criminals that deserve to rot in prison the rest of their lives. He also knows pretty much everyone within the law world, especially those he thinks would be beneficial to moving up in his career. I thought that if anyone might know how to find the attorney we're looking for, then he would."

"So, he knows the attorney we're on our way to meet then?" Travis asked as he yawned sardonically upon hearing his partner's drawn out explanation.

Ignoring his jest, Wes nodded and answered, "Of course he knows. It turns out that it's him. Although, I'm not sure if I should think we've hit a stroke of luck, or not. He hates me, mainly because I beat him on more than one occasion. The feeling is mutual."

Travis was confused as he stated, "I can tell. Hold on a second, I thought that this guy is a defense attorney. Why would he be the executive of Kyle Moore's trust fund for his aunt?"

"I don't know, but I intend to ask when we see him," Wes replied. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"I'm surprised he's agreed to see you," Travis stated as he looked over at his partner, who only continued staring at the road ahead of them. "You don't owe him money, do you?"

The blonde detective only ignored him, creating a silence that lasted the rest of the drive, then he broke it when they finally arrived outside of the large, expensive apartment building as he spoke up again saying, "I never thought I would have to see him again. We didn't necessarily part on good terms."

Travis saw the sad look on his face as he responded, "I can see that. Might I ask why without getting my head chewed off for butting in?"

"Because, he's the lawyer that defended the last man I ever prosecuted," Wes answered despondently. "The one client of his that I wish Conway worked harder to defend, but didn't because the man was one of the few clients he ever defended pro bono and he didn't care if he won those cases or not. Trent Conway rubbed the fact that I sent an innocent man to prison and in so doing to his death in my face every chance he got until I couldn't take the guilt any longer and quit."

"That's right, I did," the man they came to see said as he came out of his house and started walking toward them. "I have to say, I never really figured you for a quitter, but then again, you always did tend to take things too personally. Hello again, Mitchell. How long has it been?"

Wes glared at his former colleague as he replied, "Not long enough."

Conway laughed and then responded, "Well then, I guess we ought to get down to business, so you can get out of here as soon as possible. This isn't exactly a pleasure for me either."

"The look on your face says otherwise," Travis quickly cut in to try to keep the man from insulting his partner. "We came to ask you who your client is, who set up a large trust fund in Kyle Moore's name."

"As Wes had stated earlier on the phone," the defense lawyer answered. "To which I said that I couldn't tell him as to lawyer client confidentiality. I warned him you'd be making a trip down here for nothing."

Wes spoke again saying, "Yes, but you're a defense lawyer. Why would you be the executive of a hefty trust fund, unless this client is more of a friend?"

Trent replied, "Why does that matter? Friend or not, this person is still my client and I don't have to tell you anything."

"Somebody killed Kyle Moore and we believe that they did so for the money given to him," Wes responded angrily. "My partner and I are trying to figure out everyone in his life in hope of finding out whom that is. If you know anything that can help us, please…. Please tell us."

"You must really be desperate," the man said arrogantly, knowing that he was touching a nerve in his former colleague, turned detective. "I've never heard you beg before."

Travis stepped between his partner and Conway and quickly shoved him hard up against the side of the building as he shouted, "Listen, you smug son of a bitch. You don't want to tell us anything, that's fine. But your resistance in helping us and you taunting my partner doesn't just make me hate you, but it also makes me suspect you of killing our victim. Maybe you did, maybe you didn't, but you can bet that we'll find out and we'll hunt you down."

Wes smiled as saw the haughtiness disappear and become replaced by anger and a slight hint of fear, then he added, "My partner's right. You're now a suspect, so thanks. Even though you weren't trying to be helpful, you actually were."

"If you really want the people who killed Kyle, then look to that gang that lives in the boy's neighborhood," Trent finally answered in frustration. "I warned Kyle to be careful with that kind of money, but if he flaunted it, then those thugs would have had a perfect reason for killing him."

"That's something we've already considered," Travis replied as he and Wes turned to walk back toward their car. "We'll be back if we have any more questions. I wouldn't try to disappear. You'll only make yourself look even more suspicious."

Conway shouted out, "I have nothing to hide! If you need to talk to me again, I'll be right here!"

The detectives simply ignored the man as they started driving back toward the city and then Travis spoke up again saying, "Man that guy's a jerk. You weren't kidding."

"I told you," Wes answered somberly. "I should have known that he never would have given up his client's name. I could have saved us a lot of time and aggravation."

"Don't sweat it," his partner replied as he quickly patted his shoulder. "You gave it a shot. How are you holding up?"

Wes quickly looked over at Travis, then turned to keep his eyes on the road as he drove, and responded, "I'm fine. Conway always did know how to rattle me. I don't know why I let him get to me."

Travis answered, "It happens to all of us. There are certain people that get under my skin too."

"Like Jason?" Wes asked.

"That's right, like Jason," Travis replied as he looked into the rearview mirror and noticed a dark, unmarked van was following them as they made their way back downtown. "I think we're being followed. They're three cars back. I suggest you lose them, whoever they are, or better yet, find a way to get the upper hand so that we can catch them and ask why they're looking for us."

Wes simply nodded as he began to swerve in and out of the lanes, forcing the van to follow suit, then Wes quickly turned off of the main roads and started driving along the side streets in order to try to avoid as much traffic as possible. Most of the other cars around them managed to get out of the way, though the people driving the van weren't as careful to avoid hitting them. The detectives knew that the chase needed to end quickly, so Wes suddenly swerved into a near vacant parking lot behind a pizza parlor and spun around as he came to a full stop, facing their opponents head on.

Upon doing so, the detectives swiftly got out of their vehicle with their guns raised as Wes shouted, "Stay where you are and raise your hands high in the air so we can see them. Who the hell are you and what do you want with us?"

As the now masked men slowly exited their vehicle as well, appearing to do as the blonde detective ordered, one of them spoke up as he said coldly, "We didn't come here for the both of you, Detective Mitchell; just you."

Before either of the detectives could react, another one of the men suddenly tossed some kind of canister at their feet as it began to smoke heavily, causing Wes and Travis to cough as the haze surrounded them and began to make them feel drowsy. They fired as many shots as they could toward their assailants, one of the bullets managing to hit one of them in the chest, but it wasn't long before they were both unconscious on the ground. Once most of the smoke cleared, two of the attackers moved to stand above the detectives, then carefully began to drag Wes toward their van and threw him inside and finally sped off, leaving Travis and the kidnappers' now dead accomplice behind.


	7. Chapter 7

In Extremis

Chapter Seven

Travis slowly began to come to, having no idea how much time passed since he and his partner had been attacked and knocked unconscious with some kind of sleeping gas. It took several moments for him to become aware of his surroundings as his eyes finally stumbled upon the body of one of their assailants.

He also noticed that Wes was nowhere in sight and he quickly cried out, "Wes? Wes! Oh my God. Oh, my head. What the hell did they knock us out with?"

Knowing that Wes had been taken, as he remembered that the men who had attacked them threatened his partner before knocking them out, Travis stood and rushed over to the body of the attacker they had killed and began to search him in hope that something on him would give him a clue as to who he and the others were, or where they might have taken Wes. As he was doing so, a group of frightened witnesses to the chase and the men's attack walked toward him.

Travis quickly pulled out his badge as he noticed them and said, "It's all right, I'm a detective. I'm with the LAPD and this scumbag here helped his friends kidnap my partner. Did any of you see which way they went?"

"We've been too preoccupied with helping out each other after the mess all of you caused out on the streets to notice the direction one of the vehicles went," a man replied coldly as he stood in front of the detective.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Travis finished searching the body, then stood up to face the crowd and answered sincerely. "I really am. I take it that someone has already called 911? Continue to help each other. If you have any problems, you can speak with our captain at our headquarters, but I've got to go."

A woman quickly called out, "You're just going to leave us here, after all this?"

Travis was about to get into Wes' car until he stopped momentarily and responded, "My partner's life is at stake. If I'm going to find him in time, then I can't stick around here for any reason, but all of you are going to be okay and help is on its way."

He quickly got back into the car and sped back to their headquarters. As he arrived and stormed inside, Travis headed straight to their captain's office, but he found that the man wasn't there, so Travis looked around the workspaces and noticed Kendall sitting at her computer station.

"Kendall, where's the captain?" he asked quickly as he ran into her office. "I've got to…"

"Oh my God, are you all right?" she asked fearfully upon seeing his disheveled state and blood smeared on his shirt and pants as she moved toward him and motioned for him to take a seat.

Travis noticed the blood then too and then replied, "I'm fine. The blood's not mine. It belongs to one of the bastards that attacked us, which is why I need to talk with Captain Sutton. They've taken Wes."

She gasped and then stated again, "Oh my God! Did you get a look at them? Do you have any idea who they were? Why would… Who would…?"

"Breathe, Kendall," Travis stated when she couldn't get the words out because of the shock of Wes' abduction. "I'm going to get him back, but I'm going to need your help and I need to speak with the captain."

"Speak to me about what?" Mike asked as he walked into the room, followed by Dr. Ryan, who had come by to speak with the older man for a few minutes, then both of them noticed the blood on his clothes as well. "What the hell happened to you?"

Travis answered, "Don't worry, the blood's not mine. We were attacked on our way back here by a bunch of thugs in a dark, unmarked van as they forced us into a chase. Wes and I eventually pulled off in order to confront them, but they were ready for us. They used some kind of sleeping gas to knock us out and by the time I came to, they were gone, and so was Wes. They took him. We didn't stand a chance."

Emma exclaimed worryingly, "Oh my God!"

"That is the sentiment going around," Travis responded in frustration. "Captain, whoever these were, they attacked us because they wanted Wes. They said so as we tried to apprehend them, before they knocked us out. I don't know if they took him because of our case, but my gut is telling me this is something different, something more personal."

"You two certainly have made plenty of enemies," the captain replied as he looked between the three standing with him in the room. "I'm going to reassign your case to…"

Travis interrupted, "You can't give it to Scott and Brady. They won't treat this case the way it needs to be treated. Give it to Cafferty and Laroche and I'll continue working the case with them until I can rule out anyone we suspect so far of also being involved in Wes' kidnapping."

Sutton grumbled, "Fine. Just do whatever you have to do in order to find our boy and get him back alive. Kendall, I want you to drop whatever it is you're working on and focus everything on helping Travis find him. Cafferty, Laroche, get in here!"

"You wanted to see us, captain?" Amy asked as they walked in after hearing the captain call out to them.

"You two are working with Travis on his and Wes' case," their boss answered.

Kate objected as she spoke up saying, "But Captain, we're already working…"

Mike stopped them as he responded, "I'm reassigning your case too. Wes has been abducted and I need the three of you to work together. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir," Kate replied and then looked over at Travis. "Do you think that whoever killed your victim also kidnapped Wes in order to get you to drop the case?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," he answered in frustration as he pinched the bridge of his nose due to a headache coming on. "I'll be grateful for your help."

Amy patted his shoulder to try to give him some kind of comfort, then responded, "You've got it. Anything you need. We'll find your partner, you'll see."

Everyone walked out of Kendall's office, including Kendall, in order to give Travis and Dr. Ryan a moment to talk alone as she approached him and gently put her hand on his shoulder for comfort as well, then she spoke up as she asked, "How are you holding up, Travis?"

"I'm angry, Doc," he replied coldly. "I allowed those bastards take Wes from right under my nose and I couldn't do anything to stop them. How did I let this happen?"

"It sounds to me like you did all you could to help him," Emma answered. "It bothers you that your partner's been taken and you're worried, worried that you might get to him in time to save him, but I know you. I know you both. You will stop at nothing to save Wes and Wes will keep fighting until you find him. Forget about who's to blame and focus on that."

Travis hugged her, then turned to leave the room as he shouted back to her, "Thanks, Doc!"

Emma smiled as she watched him get back to work, then responded, speaking to herself, "You're welcome. I hope you find him."


	8. Chapter 8

In Extremis

Chapter Eight

A little more than six hours passed since his partner had been taken and Travis was still no closer to figuring out who might be responsible. The first thing Travis began to work on was trying to get multiple court orders so that he'd be able to check on each of his suspects' finances, as he figured that none of them actually kidnapped Wes or killed Kyle Moore themselves. Amy and Kate agreed with his suspicions. However, the judges they called were less inclined to believe that Trent Conway could be at all involved as he was a lawman himself and weren't too pleased that the detectives were even looking into him, so they didn't feel like giving them the orders for the rest of their suspects either. The sun was starting to go down when they finally found a judge willing to comply.

Kate and Amy walked up behind Travis and patted him on his shoulder to let him know they got the orders, causing him to jump as his mind was elsewhere, and Kate quickly spoke up saying, "Sorry about that. Are you all right?"

Travis nodded tiredly and then answered, "I'm fine. I'm just growing impatient trying to find a judge willing to cooperate. I knew most of them always hated me, but I've never had this hard of a time getting someone to help."

"I guess it was always Wes they preferred to work with, wasn't it?" Amy replied nervously. "Well, you don't have to look anymore. We found someone for you. All we have to do is go pick the court orders up. Judge Hightower is expecting us. Why don't you get started with getting the finances up?"

"Thanks ladies," he responded anxiously. "I really mean it. Once Wes is back and we catch the scumbags we're looking for, everything will go back to normal, but for now I'll be nice."

They turned to leave as they shouted back, "We know."

After they were gone, Travis shook his head to try to make himself more awake, then began to get busy pulling up the finances, but before he finished, his cell phone rang. He quickly picked it up, but as he recognized the number, he quickly became disappointed as he was hoping that it was one of the kidnappers calling to demand a ransom for his partner.

Travis continued working as he answered his phone asking, "What's going on, Money? I don't really have time to talk right now."

"_You told me to call if I got word on that stolen car you were looking into earlier,_" his brother answered. "_You still do need to find it, don't you?_"

"You found our 918 Spyder?" he asked as he stood up from his desk, then quickly grabbed his gun, badge, jacket, and keys to his bike, and ran out of the office. "Talk to me, man. Where am I going?"

Money replied, "_You're coming here, little brother. I'll explain to you and your stick-in-the-mud partner once you two get here. See you soon._"

Before Travis could explain to Money why Wes wouldn't be with him, his foster brother had hung up. As he left the office himself, he quickly sent a text to Amy and Kate regarding where he was going, then rode as fast as he could to the nearly legitimate garage where Money and his friends worked. Thanks to Money's help on a few of their cases and because he was Travis' brother, Wes eventually agreed to let what not so legitimate activities they did go, so long as he and his friends continued to help out.

Once he arrived, several guns were pointed at him as they usually were when he went there, but Money walked out and the weapons were quickly lowered, then Money spoke up first as he asked, "So, where is that white boy partner of yours? I thought you were working this case together? You two didn't have another fallout again, did you?"

"I wish," Travis responded sadly. "Wes was kidnapped. I allowed the bastards to take him right out from under me and I've been doing everything I can to find out who, but I…"

"If anyone can find him, it's you," Money answered as he cut his brother off before he could insult himself more. "And I'll do anything I can to help. He's still way too uptight, but I like him and no one hurts one of my friends. Do you think that your car thieves are behind his abduction?"

Travis shook his head as he replied, "I don't know. I don't think so, but then I could be mistaken."

As they walked inside the garage finally, Travis found his victim's car parked in the first workspace, then he spoke up again saying, "Money, I could kiss you. Thank God I was able to convince Wes that it would be a bad idea to close you down. Who dropped this bad boy off and what kind of work are they wanting done to her."

"They're wanting to give me two hundred-fifty Gs for stripping this baby down, then to sell her parts off to some dealer stationed down in Mexico," his brother responded. "I'm guessing I can't keep the currency if I'm handing her off to you instead, huh?"

"Unfortunately, I don't think they're going to be around to pay up," Travis answered as he carefully checked out the exterior and the interior of the vehicle. "God, she is a beauty. What I wouldn't give to be able to drive her just once."

Travis suddenly became serious again and then looked up at his brother as he said somberly, "Who are they, Money? Even if they're not involved in Wes' abduction, whoever stole this car did torture and kill the kid who bought it. I need to make sure they pay."

Money nodded and handed him a sheet of scrap paper with a name and phone number written on it, then patted his back like so many others had done since learning about his partner's kidnapping, then he replied confidently, "You will find him. I'm certain of it and when you do, call me. I'll be your back up if you don't feel you can trust anybody else."

"Wes is the only other detective I fully trust besides me and that took us going through over a year of therapy to get to this point," Travis responded. "I'm working with a few other detectives that are good, but I would rather have you at my side to help me when bringing these sons of the bitches down. Wait for my call. And Money… thanks."


	9. Chapter 9

In Extremis

Chapter Nine

As soon as he left his foster brother's garage, Travis made a quick call to detectives, Laroche and Cafferty for backup, then sped through the streets on his motorcycle toward the address Money had given him. It didn't take him very long to get there and it wasn't long after he arrived, that the rest of the detectives and cops did too, but instead of charging in right away, Travis gave the order for them to park down the street so as to not alert the criminals to their presence just yet.

"I doubt this will be easy, seeing as they're thieves, car smugglers, and murderers, but whatever you do, I need at least one of them alive," he said wearily as he looked ahead at the large warehouse his victims' killers lived and worked out of. "If they have Wes…"

"If they do have Wes, then we'll get one of these scum-sucking thugs to tell us where they have him and save him before any of these guys can hurt him anymore," Kate responded for him.

Travis nodded and replied, "Good. Let's do this and then get the hell out of here. Follow my lead."

Everyone stood behind Travis as he led the charge toward the warehouse, and as soon as the men and women inside saw the team of cops, they began shooting their guns wildly in order to try to avoid getting caught. Two cops were struck down, one of them being wounded critically, the other killed, while most of the criminals were killed as well. A bullet grazed Travis in the arm, but he didn't let it faze him as he was more concerned with getting to the bottom of the mess he was wrapped up in.

Once the fight was finished, Travis walked up to one of the survivors, the man that appeared to be in charge of whatever operation they were working on, shoved him hard up against a wall behind them, and then shouted angrily, "Where's my partner?"

"Who the hell is your partner?" the killer asked. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about. We don't have anybody here and you just killed most of us! Why the hell would I want to help you?"

"Tell me the truth, did you torture and kill a kid named Kyle Moore, then try to pay a bunch of thugs at a chop shop to break down the kid's hot new ride?" Travis asked, having seen the truth in the man's eyes when he asked about taking Wes.

The man glared at the detective as he answered coldly, "As I told you before, I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Knowing that he was lying the second time around, Travis threw him down against the floor, picked him up again, and threw him back up against the wall, then frustratingly responded, "Wrong answer. I suggest you tell me the truth, or I'll go to one of your other surviving friends over there and ask them, but believe me, if I have to do that, then you won't like the consequences for your lack of cooperation. I've had pretty much the worst day of my life so far and if you don't help yourself at all, I will make you look like the kid you dumped out of your moving car like he was trash and my friends out there won't hold my actions against me. Why did you kill that kid?"

"My name is Bobby and I want a lawyer," he replied smugly, knowing that by asking for defense, he didn't have to say another word and the detective could no longer interrogate him without his own consequences. "I suggest you get off of me and turn me over to your friends now."

"You know your rights, but just because you won't give up the truth about killing Kyle, it doesn't mean that I can't prove it's you," Travis answered as he released him and let a few of the cops with him lead him away after cuffing his hands behind his back. "You sent the car to the wrong garage. I'll see you later, Bobby."

Kate and Amy walked over to him as Amy asked, "I'm surprised you didn't keep trying to strangle the guy."

As he walked back toward his bike, Travis replied coldly, "These guys aren't responsible for kidnapping Wes. That bastard was surprised when I asked him where they were keeping him, but when I asked him about killing Kyle, he became smug and defensive. Beating on him any longer won't help me or Wes. It would only make it so I can't help him any longer."

"You're getting wiser Travis," Kate stated. "A few months ago, you would have beaten him into the ground. I'm impressed."

"I know, but I'm not the same cop I was months ago," he answered coolly. "That's thanks to my partner. Now, we have to find a new lead. We may have figured out who killed Kyle, but we haven't tracked down all that money or figured out who hired these thugs. They weren't working alone."

Kate quickly asked, "How do you know that?"

Travis got back on his motorcycle and then responded, "Call it a hunch. That, and the fact that these guys stole and had plans to sell the 918 Spyder's parts to some buyer down in Mexico. Do you think that if they had just inherited ten million dollars after killing the kid, that they would even risk handing it off to some crummy chop shop?"

"No they wouldn't," Amy stated. "Just out of curiosity, how exactly did you manage to locate our killers and find the place they gave the vehicle to?"

"I have my ways," he replied as he slipped his helmet back on and looked at the women through his visor. "I'll meet you back at the station once you drop these guys off. I've got another errand to run first."

Meanwhile…

Wes slowly awoke feeling tired and weak, but tried to focus on his surroundings. However, everything was blurred and he quickly realized that he couldn't move his arms and legs, mostly because he discovered he was strapped down to some kind of gurney. He struggled to break free, but to no avail and it wasn't long before someone walked into the room, as Wes only heard him chuckle under his breath.

He still couldn't see much through the haze, but despite the fear of what he couldn't see, Wes struggled as he asked, "Who are you? Where am I and what do you want with me? Answer me!"

A man finally spoke up answering, "None of that's important right now, Detective Mitchell, but I promise you that for now, you're perfectly safe; for now."

"What did you do to me?" Wes continued as the grogginess he was feeling remained. "I can barely move and it's not because of these restraints. You gave me something."

"That's right, I did," the man responded. "It's only something to make sure you don't hurt yourself trying to escape. Even if you do manage to break free eventually, you won't get very far. I would just try to relax."

Wes fought through the fog and was finally able to see again, finding that the man standing over him was dressed in a white lab coat and that he was now wearing a bright orange jumpsuit like the many men and women they put away wore in prison, then he replied, "You can forget trying to get any kind of information from me. I won't help you and your friends get whatever you're after."

His captor picked up a syringe and emptied out some of its contents to test it, then injected the liquid into Wes' bloodstream as he answered coldly, "We already have what we're after, detective, and your partner won't be able to find you before we get what we need. What we have planned doesn't necessarily have to be painful for you, but I have a feeling that you'll do whatever you can to fight us, so for now, I'm preparing a sedative to help relax you. I'll be back later to check on you and then we'll get to work on prepping you for surgery. You're going to help to save a very close friend of mine's life in the morning. We're all much appreciated."

Wes couldn't fight the new drug slowly making its way through his system, making him feel even weaker and drowsier than before and it wasn't long before his eyelids closed and he was once again unconscious. The last thing he saw before the effects took hold was the smug smile the man above him had plastered across his face.


	10. Chapter 10

In Extremis

Chapter Ten

Once again, Travis walked into the prison to have another chat with his foster brother, despite the warden's objections because of the lateness of the hour, as Captain Sutton called in a favor so that his detective could make the visit, and when Jason was escorted in, this time being cuffed to the table, Jason glared up at his brother as he smugly said, "Two visits in one day. I'm flattered."

Travis quickly replied, "Don't be. I'm not here to see how you're doing."

"Then why are you here again so soon?" Jason asked curiously.

"Who did you talk to after we left earlier?" Travis asked, hoping to be able to read Jason's face in search of some kind of deceit. "Are the guards awarding you any kind of phone privileges?"

Jason chuckled, then responded, "No, I have not been awarded any phone privileges. I believe you know that because you made sure that I wasn't to be given any privileges. Why do you want to know? Where's your partner tonight?"

Travis finally sat down across from his brother and answered coldly, "Wes was kidnapped a few hours after we talked earlier."

"And you thought it was me who made the call for some of my old friends to come out and kidnap him?" Jason asked stoically. "Why would I do that?"

"Maybe because you're pissed at me for putting you in here, for not sticking up for you because we are brothers," Travis replied in anger. "Maybe you did it because you felt it was a good idea to kidnap a cop so that you could use him as leverage to get out of here, rather than rot in here for the rest of your life. I don't really care. I want to know the truth. Did you hire thugs to kidnap him?"

Jason continued to stare at Travis as he responded, "I didn't, but I wish I thought of that. It sounds like a good idea."

Believing that his foster brother was telling the truth, Travis stood again and then answered, "It isn't. I suggest you be good in here, Jason. You'll be much better off if you continue to be a reputable prisoner. Then, maybe in a few years you'll be able to earn a few extra privileges. If I find out that you're lying to me, that you are responsible for having my partner taken, I will make you regret it."

"There isn't anything more you can do to me," Jason replied.

"I wouldn't bet on that," Jason responded coldly, then turned and left the room, leaving Jason alone again until the guards walked back in order to take him to his cell.

Nearly twelve hours later…

Wes woke up again, still feeling weary, but not as dizzy as he had the first time he awoke however long ago it had been. Once again he worked to break free from the restraints that were binding him to the gurney he was laid on, but just as before, his struggles were pointless. The straps held tight, so he laid his head back and focused on trying to figure out where he was being held. There was only one small window up near the ceiling in the far corner of the room, but it was mostly boarded up and so all he could see was a little bit of light coming through the cracks, letting him know that it was some time in the day, not night like it was before.

It wasn't long before Wes was pulled away from his thoughts, as the same man from earlier once again walked into the room and as he did, Wes turned his head to look at his captor and said, "I know you."

The man nodded as he answered, "That's right, we met briefly last night."

"No, we've met before last night," Wes replied as he stared up at the ceiling. "I just don't exactly remember where right now, as my mind's a little hazy still, thanks to whatever you drugged me with."

"Don't worry detective, that was nothing you have to be concerned about," the man continued. "It's what we're going to do to you that you're not going to like. How are you feeling? Any nausea or queasiness?"

Wes suddenly realized where it was he recognized the man standing over from, then spoke up saying coldly, "You're the paramedic from the blood drive; the one who drew my blood."

The man looked down at Wes as he responded, "You have a good memory."

"I pay attention to detail," the detective stated. "My partner says I'm obsessive compulsive and anal retentive. He's right, but I won't tell him that to his face. What is it that you want with me? The truth."

"You're blood matches what we've been looking for, for some time now," his captor answered as he turned toward the medical equipment and supplies set up on a table nearby the gurney, making Wes look too. "AB+ is the rarest blood type a person can have and it can only be donated to someone else with the same blood type, same as your organs and tissues. While you've been resting comfortably, I've been doing more blood work having drawn more of your blood and tissue and so far, everything's looking just perfect."

Wes' eyes grew cold as he glared at the paramedic, then he asked angrily, "What exactly are you planning to take from me? Who am I being used for to save?"

The man smiled as he replied, "As I said before, you're saving a close friend of mine. It's unfortunate for you that you happen to be the perfect specimen, but I promise we'll take good care of you."

"You're only a paramedic," Wes responded. "And I can see it in your eyes. I'm as good as dead. You don't plan on letting me go, even if I can survive this shoddy operation you're prepping me for. And you and your friends won't survive for long either. My partner and the rest of the LAPD will hunt you all down. I can promise you that."

"They can try," he answered confidently. "We're smarter than you think we are and they'll never think to look for us here inside the smallest jail here in Los Angeles County. To everyone around here, you look just like another prisoner thanks to the new jumpsuit we fitted you with when we brought you in here and I'm the new doctor as far as the warden and guards know. Now, I suggest you rest. I have a few more tests to finish and then we can begin."


	11. Chapter 11

In Extremis

Chapter Eleven

Back at LAPD headquarters…

Travis stood up from his desk, having worked all through the night, and walked into the kitchen area in order to pour himself another cup of coffee to help wake him up, then Captain Sutton walked into the room as well as he spoke up saying, "I know that you don't plan on going home to rest until you find your partner, but you should at least go get yourself something to eat so that you can continue. You look dead on your feet."

Travis shook his head as he answered curtly, "I'll eat later. I have to find something that can help me find him. Something's got to give way."

"You've worn out every lead you can think of," the captain responded as they both walked back out into the main room. "The girls interrogated the thugs that killed Kyle and finally got them to confess, but not to taking Wes."

"I already knew that, Cap," Travis said in frustration as he sat down once again at his desk and pinched the bridge of his nose, then took a few aspirins with his coffee to try to get rid of his headache that was only growing worse the more tired he grew. "I saw the surprise in their faces when I asked them about kidnapping him back at the warehouse we arrested them in. They didn't have any reason to kidnap Wes. I looked into Wes' old colleague, Trent Conway, and so far, nothing looks out of the ordinary. His finances look clean. He hated Wes. That I could tell right away, but he doesn't have a motive for kidnapping him. He mostly likes to torture him with guilt. Besides, there is no way there would have been enough time for him to call in a goon squad to come and take him. It all happened less than a half hour after we left his home."

Sutton pulled up the chair from Wes' desk, then sat down beside Travis' desk, and asked, "Is there a chance that he could be the man responsible? Think real hard."

It was then that Kate and Amy walked back into the room as Kate spoke up saying, "Those thugs may have confessed to killing your kid, but they're not cracking on who it was that hired them to do it."

"Whoever did, told them they would pay them half a million dollars for the job and told them that they could keep the car as well," Amy continued. "Before the job, they were paid half of the money, but the second half would only be given to them if the job was done. It looks like we got to them before their employer could pay them the second half though. We tried to get them to tell us who the guy is, but they won't budge. It appears they believe that he's going to get them off."

"I didn't see any financial transactions matching half a million in Conway's accounts, but that doesn't mean that he's not responsible for hiring our thugs to kill Kyle Moore," Travis replied as he looked between their captain and the other detectives standing over him. "Can you ladies keep digging? My gut's telling me he's the guy responsible for the kid's death. Oh, and keep trying to locate this mysterious aunt that set up the trust fund too. She may have a story to tell. But I'm telling you, Conway isn't responsible for kidnapping Wes. And it's not the Wah Ching either. It's someone else not linked to this case. I just can't think of who it could be."

Kate placed her hand gently on his shoulder as she stated, "He's going to be all right, Travis. You're going to find the sons of bitches responsible for all this and get him back. Something's going to turn up."

It was then that Kendall came running into the room as she said urgently, "Travis! Captain! I think I might have something! Although, I don't know if this will really help, but…"

"Whoa, whoa, easy Kendall," Travis spoke as he stood up and tried to calm her so that she could finish explaining. "What are you talking about?"

"I've been keeping track of Wes' cell phone and his credit cards, not that I actually expected someone would be dumb enough to use them, but it turns out, someone actually did…" she answered. "Aah… use one of his credit cards, I mean."

Travis quickly asked, "Where? Where was it used, Kendall?"

The young woman pushed up the glasses she wore as she answered, "Whoever has his card, used it downtown at a club last night and then again this morning at a diner, also downtown. I've texted you the address."

"Kendall, you're brilliant," Travis responded as he leaned over and kissed her cheek, then quickly grabbed his things again and started toward the door.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Amy shouted out before he left.

He called back, "Keep doing what you were doing! I've got this!"

Once he was gone, Amy looked over at their captain as she asked, "Should we go after him?"

"No, he's got this," the man replied with a smile. "He'll be fine."

Travis arrived at the diner where Kendall said that the person he was looking for might still be in record time thanks to his bike, and when he walked inside, there were only two tables in use by the diner's patrons, as well as two waitresses, and a cook working back in the kitchen. It was almost ten o'clock and so it was in between the breakfast rush and the lunch rush. Travis quickly flashed his badge at one of the waitresses, who then nodded toward her one customer, still sitting at his table while drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. Travis walked over, then sat down in the booth across from the man, who looked up and glared at the stranger now sitting with him.

"Can I help you?" he asked angrily.

Travis held up his badge again, and the man attempted to get up to run, but Travis quickly grabbed hold of his coat and held firmly, as he answered, "I understand that you're using a credit card that doesn't belong to you. Show it to me; right now!"

The patron tried to shake the detective off of him, but Travis continued to keep his tight hold and then the man asked, "Who the hell are you and why are you looking for me?"

"Because, the card you're using belongs to my partner, but of course, you already know that, don't you?" Travis responded coldly. "Hand it over."

"Look, I was hungry, all right?" the man replied as he finally pulled out the card, as well as Wes' wallet from his coat pocket and handed them over to him. "I found these in the dumpster behind this diner. They would have just ended up in some landfill somewhere, so I used one of them."

Travis read his face and could see that he was lying, then he responded angrily, "Try again. It's obvious that you're lying about where you got this from, so let me ask you this, where is the man you stole this wallet from? Where did you take him?"

The man shook his head in objection until Travis swiftly moved to stand beside him, grabbed him by the collar of his coat, pulled him from the booth, and shoved him hard up against the bar, then Travis continued, "Look, I'm getting very impatient and I have a feeling that my partner doesn't have much time left. He's in trouble and I'll be damned if I allow you to stand in my way of saving him, so I'll ask you again, where is he? Tell me now!"

"I don't know," the man replied fearfully. "That's the truth, I don't know. I was hired along with a few others to attack you and your partner and to take him to them, but as soon as we handed him over, they took off. They left his gun, badge, and wallet behind, I took his wallet, then I went back home."

"Who hired you?" Travis shouted.

The man shook his head as he answered, "I don't know his name. None of us did. When we first met, my friends and I were approached by some guy who asked to do a job in exchange for twenty-five thousand dollars. Once we knew the guy was for real and we agreed, we were told where we could find you, then was handed a picture of him, so that we wouldn't screw up and take the wrong cop. The guy wasn't very trusting and he seemed awfully desperate for us to get this job done."

Travis turned Wes' kidnapper around and cuffed his hands behind his back, then as he walked him out of the diner, Travis spoke up again saying, "I came here on my motorcycle, so I'm going to hand you off to a cop friend of mine I saw working the beat just down the street from here and he'll escort you to the station. You're under arrest for the kidnapping of an LAPD detective. I'm going to ask you one more question and I suggest you come up with a good answer. Help yourself out just a little bit. Is there anything at all you can tell me that will help me find the men who have my partner?"

"The guy my friends and I dealt with is some kind of doctor, or nurse, or… someone… a paramedic I think," he responded curtly. "He was wearing a jacket that had some kind of patch on the arm. It had the paramedic emblem on it. Also, inside the Sudan I saw what looked like a couple of medical charts. He was really kind of creepy looking."

"Son of a bitch," Travis replied to himself when it suddenly dawned on him who one of Wes' kidnappers might be, as he remembered the creepy paramedic who took Wes' blood, at the blood drive they attended the day before.


	12. Chapter 12

In Extremis

Chapter Twelve

As soon as he handed off the criminal to his cop friend down the street, Travis quickly dialed Kendall's number and when she picked up, he quickly called out, "Kendall, I need you search any surveillance footage in and outside of the pavilion where the blood drive Wes and I attended the other day was. Search for any footage that shows the paramedic who drew Wes' blood and then send me an up close picture of his face. There should be surveillance cameras all around the area."

She asked in confusion, "_And if there isn't one? What's going on, Travis? Did you figure out...?_"

"There's got to be one," Travis responded curtly as he got onto his bike once again and prepared to ride off. "I don't have time to explain right now, Kendall, and I don't care what you have to do, but you have to do this for me right now! Send it to me as soon as you have it."

Before Kendall could say anymore, Travis hung up and began driving toward the hospital that hosted the blood drive, hoping that they would be able to tell him who Wes' kidnapper was and where he could find him. However, before he arrived at his destination, another group of motorcyclists suddenly drove up behind him and within seconds had him surrounded, making it so that he was forced to stop.

"Let me guess, one of you is Lee Kato and the rest of you are members of the Wah Ching?" Travis asked as he moved off of his bike and slowly raised up the visor of his helmet.

The leader of the group moved off of his own bike as well and pulled off of his helmet, then answered, "You know who we are, but we don't know you, other than the fact that you're a cop. Why have you been looking for me and my friends?"

Travis finally pulled off his helmet as well and then replied, "I'm a detective with the LAPD and I'm not looking for you any longer. You were a suspect in the case me and my partner are working on, but you're not now."

"According to a common associate of ours, an old friend of mine was killed yesterday, someone who was once under my protection," Kato responded angrily. "I want to know who did it and why."

"You were friends with Kyle Moore?" Travis asked in surprise.

Kato nodded and then answered, "He's been my friend since we were kids. I was several years older than he was, but there was something good about him, the only good thing in my life. He spent the last few years trying to convince me to change my ways. Despite me being the killer I am, he still cared about me, so I tried to protect him. I obviously failed."

Travis' phone began to ring, reminding him of what he was doing, and then he spoke up again saying, "Listen, I'd love to hear all about the tiniest shred of decency you've got in you, but I'm in a hurry right now. I'm trying to save someone I care about right now and unlike you, I refuse to fail."

"Tell me who killed my friend!" Kato replied angrily as Travis got back onto his bike and put his helmet back on.

"They're already paying for killing Kyle," the detective called back. "Tell my brother in prison if you talk to him again, that once we find out who he hired you to kill for him, that we'll amend his charges to include another count of conspiracy to murder as well. And if I see you again, you'll be on your way to meet with him in person."

As Travis drove off, Kato watched him as he said to his friends behind him, "That detective's got guts. He knows that if he sees us again, he'll wind up dead and he's not at all afraid."

Travis finally arrived at the hospital and quickly ran into the emergency wing's lobby and as he got to the desk, startling the nurses, he quickly pulled out his badge and showed them as he called out, "Listen, I need one of you to tell me the name of one of your paramedics, who worked the blood drive you hosted yesterday. I've got his picture right here."

He swiftly pulled up the picture Kendall sent to his phone, stared down at the creep that took his partner's blood and kidnapped him, then he handed his phone off to show them the picture, and one of the women spoke up saying, "Look honey, we can't just give you that kind of information, especially without a warrant. Besides, we have a number of paramedics that come from all over this city to help us with the blood drives we host twice a year. It will take us too long to dig through our records for one guy."

"I don't have time for this bull shit, lady!" Travis shouted angrily. "This bastard helped kidnap my partner and if I don't find him now, my partner's as good as dead. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

"I remember this guy," the nurse who had drawn Travis' blood said as she looked at the picture when she walked up to the desk upon coming back from an emergency call. "I mean, I don't know who he is, but as you probably recall, I was working the booth beside his."

Normally, Travis would begin to flirt with her like he had the day before, but as he was concerned about his partner, flirting was the furthest thing on his mind and he quickly asked, "Can you help me out by finding the paperwork you have on him? Please, if you can just find out where he lives or at the very least his name for me, you would be doing me a big favor. You would be helping me save my partner's life, please."

The paramedic smiled and responded, "Give me a few minutes and I'll do what I can."

"You can't help him," one of the other women called out to her as she walked away, while Travis stood back and began to pace nervously back and forth as he waited for her to come back.

"You're going to wear a hole in the floor if you continue pacing at that speed," Money said as he walked inside the wing and made his way over to his brother.

Travis glared at him for a moment and then finally sat down in the closest chair nearby as he spoke up saying, "Thanks for coming. I'm close, Money. I know I am, but I'm running out of time."

His brother nodded and then stated, "I get that you're worried for your boy, but something else is bothering you. I can see the anger in your eyes. I always could read you. What's going on?"

"Wes is in this position because of me," the detective answered angrily as he punched his fist into the wall in front of him, creating a large hole in it and causing his hand to bleed. "The bastard that kidnapped him worked at the blood drive we attended yesterday and Wes was supposed to have his blood drawn by this gorgeous girl, but I butt in and shoved him aside so that she could take mine instead. Wes ended up with this creepy guy and for some reason, he took him. It should have been me. It should have been me, damn it!"

"You don't yet know the reason why your criminal took Wes, so I suggest you stop blaming yourself and focus on what's really important, which is finding him so that you can save your partner before it's too late," Money replied. "I'm here and I'm ready for whatever's ahead. So are my boys."

Travis allowed one of the nurses to come over to take care of his hand, then looked directly at his brother as he asked, "What would I ever do without you, Money?"

Money smiled at the woman treating Travis, then he looked back over at his brother, and said honestly, "You haven't needed me as much since Wes arrived. That white boy's looked out for you just fine since you two partnered up, so I'd say it's about time I repay him for that."

Meanwhile…

Wes couldn't do anything as the man who kidnapped him continued to poke and prod him like a lab rat, finishing up whatever tests he needed to make sure that he was the perfect donor for whoever it was he was trying to save and deep down, Wes was terrified. Of all the terrible ways he imaged he could die because of being a detective, having his blood and organs harvested by a man hardly qualified had never even entered his mind. He trusted Travis with his life, but this time he was afraid his partner wasn't going to find him before it's too late.

"So, this is the young man… you found who's going to… to help keep me alive," a prisoner in a wheelchair spoke between coughs as he was wheeled into the dimly lit room by one of the jail's guards, followed by two more. "He isn't looking too good."

"I've begun prepping him for the operation," the paramedic responded as he loomed over Wes and began to check his vitals as the drugs slowly made their way into his bloodstream from the IVs now implanted into his arms above the restraints. "I've given him a muscle relaxant, as well as another sedative to keep him from struggling once I begin. When I start cutting him open, he's going to feel a lot of pain."

Once of the guards spoke up asking, "You're not going to give him morphine during the operation?"

The prisoner smiled as he answered, "Unfortunately for him, what… little morph… morphine there is left… will be used to help me… during the operation."

"This man's in here because he molested and killed three young boys before he was finally taken down by the cops," the paramedic continued, knowing that child molesters and killers were the kinds of criminals most hated by cops and all other lawmen. "He doesn't deserve to live through this, let alone to feel no pain while he's undergoing surgery in order to save a good man unlawfully imprisoned in here in the first place, does he?"

"No, he doesn't," another one of the guards replied as the three of them believed the paramedic and the prisoner they had come to respect after all the time he's spent inside.

Wes could barely stay awake, let alone fight through the drugs well enough to defend himself against the lies these men were telling the naïve prison guards. It wouldn't be long before the operation began as well as the pain. His last thoughts before unconscious finally gripped him for what he realized was the final time, was a faint glimmer of a prayer that his partner would break in and save him before these monsters could succeed in killing him.


	13. Chapter 13

In Extremis

Chapter Thirteen

It took almost forty minutes before the nurse finally came back with the little paperwork the hospital had on the paramedic Travis was looking for and once he ran his name and information through Kendall, she quickly discovered that it was all bogus. However, she had already begun running his face through the facial recognition software and his real name finally came back.

"_His real name is George Glover,_" she said as soon as her search results came up. "_He was in prison twenty-two years ago when he was a teenager for robbery and assault, then disappeared off the grid for awhile until he reappeared years later under the name, John Crispin._"

"Does he have a known address or any known associates?" Travis asked impatiently as he, Money, and his men all began walking out toward their bikes. "Is there anything you can give me that might help us to know where he might be hiding out?"

Kendall began typing wildly again as she replied, "_According to the records, Glover had seven different cell mates during his five year sentence at Folsom Prison. However, it appears that he had grown close to one of them, a man by the name of James Nimziki, who was in prison for the murder of two men during a bank robbery. He was convicted, but so far throughout his entire sentence, Nimziki has continued his fight to prove he was innocent of the charges against him._"

Travis quickly asked, "Why is this information relevant right now?"

"_Because, two years ago, Nimziki was finally awarded a transfer to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility on account of his good behavior and it appears that Glover recently just took a new job there as their new doctor,_" she answered. _This information wasn't easy to come by, but I have my ways too._"

"I don't understand, Glover is only a paramedic," Travis responded in confusion. "How could he get a job as a prison doctor and why does this matter?"

Kendall sighed in frustration, then spoke up again saying, "_Think about it, Travis. He faked his credentials to get inside, so that he could be back with Nimziki. Now why would he do that?_"

Travis looked up at his brother in fear as he replied, "Because Nimziki is sick. It sounds like Glover kidnapped Wes because the man is dying and Glover thinks that my partner has whatever he needs to try to save him. Why else would a paramedic work at a blood drive, kidnap one of his patients, and then infiltrate another prison, after being set free from his own sentence? He plans to harvest Wes' organs. I've got to go. Thank you, Kendall. You're amazing and I owe you way more than just one favor."

"You know where we're heading?" Money asked once his brother got off his phone.

"Yeah, I do and we've got to hurry," Travis answered angrily as he got on his bikes, as did Money and the others with him. "Wes is in way more trouble than I thought."

Meanwhile…

It wasn't long after the prison guards brought in Nimziki for his scheduled operation that the paramedic they believed to be a doctor ushered them out again, then carefully continued to finish preparing the detective for surgery. Once Wes was out again and an oxygen tube was placed under his nose to help keep him breathing while the operation commenced, Glover moved on to help his long time friend up onto his own gurney so that he could begin preparing him as well.

As George gently slid the needle connected to the morphine drip into his friend's arm at the crook of his elbow, James weakly spoke up asking, "Why are you so… nervous, George? You're not having… second thoughts… about what we're doing here… today, are you?"

Glover smiled and responded, "Not at all. I have no problem with killing this detective and I don't worry that we're going to be discovered, as we'll both be long gone by the time anyone figures out what we've done. It's just that… I'm only a paramedic."

"A paramedic… who is smart… smarter than most… doctors… I know," the sick man replied as he continued to cough. "The only… reason you are not… not a doctor yet… is because you… have not been given… the chance. I trust you."

"You always have trusted me," George answered. "I appreciate your faith in me. I will not fail you."

Nimziki nodded as he responded, "I know you… won't."

Glover finally began to release the proper drugs into the man's system and then replied, "Let's get this over with. I'll see you when you're well again."

"When I'm… well," he stated just before going under.

"Glover, it looks like we're about to have company," one of the guards quickly called out as he came running into the room. "It appears that the cops figured us out a lot sooner than we thought they would. We didn't cover our tracks well enough."

The paramedic looked between his two patients and then stopped his eyes on the detective as he answered, "This guy's partner and the rest of their friends are smarter than I gave them credit for. I should have had the men we hired killed so that they couldn't have given anything away. It's the only way they could have figured out anything about us. I need you to do whatever you have to do to make sure the cops can't get inside here."

The guard on Glover's payroll quickly asked, "And how do you suppose I do that? The warden doesn't exactly listen to me. He doesn't listen to anyone, even you."

"How else would someone keep out unwanted invaders from the outside?" George asked in return and then answered for him. "You start a prison riot. No cops will be allowed inside and by the time the guards and the other men they call in to help get the prisoners under control again, Detective Mitchell's friends will be too late. Do it."

"You're the boss," the guard responded smugly. "I've got this."


	14. Chapter 14

In Extremis

Chapter Fourteen

Travis, Money, and the men all arrived outside of the prison and waited for the guards to let them inside as Money spoke up asking, "I don't think this place is going to let us inside, at least without locking us up as soon as we enter, so what is your plan?"

The detective looked at his brother and answered, "I sent the other detectives I've been working with a text asking them to meet me here. They'll be here any minute to help. Damn, I wasn't expecting I'd find Wes in a jail of all places. It's going to take way too long to explain things. Wes doesn't have this kind of time."

"Sorry about the wait detective," a guard said when he and two others walked out to meet them as Travis quickly flashed his badge, then they let Travis and Money, who quickly handed off his guns to his friends, inside the gates and into the building. "Are you here to visit one of the prisoners you put in here?"

"I need to speak with your warden right away," Travis replied quickly as they made their way into a waiting area. "My partner's been kidnapped by the imposter you hired as your doctor. He's being held in here somewhere and…"

A woman walked out as she interrupted, "I'm the warden here, Renee Dodds, and who exactly are you?"

Travis showed her his badge again and then responded, "Ma'am, your doctor kidnapped my partner and is in here right now getting ready to perform some kind of shoddy operation that will kill him so that he can save a scumbag criminal. Where is he?"

"That's a horrendous accusation, detective," the woman answered in disbelief. "What proof do you have and who's your partner?"

"His name is Detective Wes Mitchell," Amy suddenly replied as she and Kate walked in showing their badges as well, while Travis showed the warden a photo of Wes.

As she looked closely at the picture, Officer Dodds spoke up again in confusion asking, "This man's your partner? That can't be possible. He's in here for three counts of child rape and murder."

Travis glared at the woman as he responded coldly, "You listen to me, lady. This man is my partner and the closest thing I've got to a best friend, not a vile monster this fraud of a doctor of yours made up to get him inside. Where the hell is he?"

The warden was about to answer when suddenly the alarm began to sound, creating an uproar and panic among the guards as they could hear screaming and shouting coming from the cell areas. A riot had begun and Travis knew getting through to find Wes was going to be impossible without the right help.

"We need to get this place under control!" Renee shouted as she motioned for her guards to pull the detectives and Money out. "Get them out of here, now! I'm sorry detective, but I'm afraid your partner's going to have to wait!"

"I'm getting inside whether they like it or not," Travis quickly said so that only Money and the other detectives could hear him while they were roughly being ushered out. "Go out, then call for back up. Get back inside as fast as you can and use my brother's men if you have to. Hurry!"

As Travis and Money fought their way through in order to remain inside the jail, Amy cried out, "Wait… Travis! Come back! What men?"

The warden bellowed after them, "You can't go in there! You're going to get yourselves killed! Come back!"

Travis and Money ignored her as they made their way into the cells where all of the criminals inside were fighting against the guards and amongst each other, making it near impossible for them to break their way through to where they knew they'd find Wes and the men responsible for hurting him. However, it didn't deter Travis from his goal because nothing else mattered then. Trouble never really scared him, but losing someone he cares about does.

"I'm going to need a gun!" Travis shouted as he looked back at his foster brother after fighting off a few inmates the deeper they made their way inside. "Please tell me you didn't allow them to take all of them off you?"

"I'm always prepared," Money answered smugly as he pulled out a derringer from beneath his pant leg, hidden inside his sock, and then together they turned to fight off several more prisoners as well as a few guards mistaking them for inmates despite the difference of their clothing. "You've only got one bullet in that thing so I suggest you make it count!"

Travis replied, "I always do."

Inside the medical wing…

The guard working for Glover ran back inside the room as he spoke up nervously saying, "The prisoners are all loose and the other guards are having a hell of a time trying to get this place back under control. They'll be calling in a police force to help soon. How exactly do you expect to get away with this?"

"I don't have to get away with this," the paramedic responded in frustration at the man's distraction. "Just so long as I can get the operations done with. My oldest friend will be saved and if ending up in prison again is the price I have to pay for that, then so be it. Now stand guard and make sure no one gets in here."

"Fine, just hurry up or I'm out of here," the guard stated as he opened the door and looked around before taking his stand. "I'm not willing to go to prison for anything."

George simply ignored him as he looked back down at the detective lying on the gurney beneath him and knowing that the sedation will slowly begin to wear off once he begins to cut into him as the pain will flood Wes' senses, he finally held the surgical knife firmly as he slowly and carefully began to cut through the skin and tissue to break through to his left kidney. Wes' hands and legs began to tremble the deeper the paramedic cut and by the time Glover had made an incision deep and large enough for his hands to reach inside, Wes began whimpering in pain, though still not conscious and too weak to scream out. The sedative and other drugs were doing their job.

However, just as he was about to begin cutting out the organ, a man suddenly burst through the door and aimed a small gun directly at him as he said angrily, "Drop that knife and step the hell away from my partner, now!"

Glover raised his head and stared at the detective, but didn't remove the scalpel as he answered, "Detective Marks I presume. You're a little late."

"That may be, but my partner's still alive and I plan to make sure he stays that way, so I suggest you get away from him right now or I swear to God, I'll put a hole in your head turning your brain into a small crater," Travis replied coldly.

"A vivid picture," George responded, still not making any attempt to stop his procedure. "I've been looking for another AB + donor, but as I'm sure you know, they're extremely rare to find. Detective Mitchell here is the only chance my friend's got left to live. You care about your friend and I care about mine, which is why I am willing to do whatever I have to do to save him, even if it means that I have to kill someone else."

Travis looked down at Wes fearfully and cringed, then tightened his hold on his gun as he spoke again saying with more vigor, "We're not exactly having a standoff here, Glover. I'm the one with the gun, so I…"

As he slowly reached out to the medical table behind his back with his free hand for a larger knife, unaware by Travis, George smugly interrupted, "You have a gun detective, but my blade is still inside of your partner's stomach and if you force me to, I will make a cut so deep that you won't be able to stifle the blood flow enough to save him in time, but if you point that thing someplace else and let me do what I'm in here trying to do, I will do all I can to keep him alive too."

"I can't let you do that," Travis answered when the man suddenly flung the knife he picked up with as much force as he could toward the detective, making it so that Travis had to dodge out of the way, as George swiftly pulled up the scalpel and forced it down hard into Wes' chest just above his heart, then the single bullet from the derringer in Travis' hands was fired, striking the paramedic between his eyes before he could move to pull the blade back out.

Money had just finished taking down the man standing guard outside of the medical wing as he heard the sound of the gunfire, then charged inside the room and seeing that Travis had made his shot, he smiled, but the moment didn't last as he saw the condition of his brother's partner. Travis quickly turned when he saw Money burst in, but turned back and ran to Wes' side as he fiercely fought to stifle the blood flow from the new wound as well as from the one in his abdomen. Money quickly checked on the criminal to make sure he was truly dead, then moved to stand beside Travis and took over holding his hands over the larger wound. They both ignored the other unconscious prisoner lying on the gurney a few feet away.

"Damn it!" Travis said angrily as he used one hand to try to rouse his partner and could feel the heat radiating off of him as he did so. "Wes, Wes! Come on, stay with me. I didn't give up on you, so don't you dare give up on me. We need to get him to a hospital where he can be treated by real doctors."

Money looked toward the doors as he replied, "So long as the riot continues, no paramedics will be allowed inside. We need to get him outside to them."

Travis looked up at him as he asked, "Can you carry him?"

"Just clear the way," he responded as he handed Travis another gun he had pulled off of the man he fought moments ago and gently lifted Wes into his arms, then together they made their way out again and back into the middle of the fights going on within the cell areas, leaving Nimziki behind.

"Get back!" Travis shouted as he fired several rounds into the air in order to scare off a few of the inmates as they attempted to pick a fight with them. "Just stay back!"

All of a sudden, another shot was fired as it struck a man down who was about to sneak up behind Travis with one of the guard's batons raised up to attack the detective and after looking down at the wounded man Travis recognized as one of the men he and Wes had put in jail months ago, he looked in the direction of the shot as he saw Kate standing before him with her gun raised.

She fearfully looked down at Wes in Money's arms and then turned to Travis as she spoke up saying, "The cavalry's arrived. Get him out. There are ambulances waiting outside the gates. We'll take care of things here."

It was then that Kate, Amy, Money's men, and several other cops rushed past them to help the guards end the riot once and for all, and Travis and Money continued making their way to the exit. As soon as they made it outside, the warden rushed forward and began to shout at them for going against her, but they simply ignored her as they brushed past her to get to the paramedics standing by.

As they carefully lay Wes down on one of the gurneys set out, Travis quickly fought to get back his breath back and then cried out, "Help him! Do whatever you have to do… to save him."

"A prisoner?" one of the paramedics asked nervously.

"He's a detective, the same as me," Travis answered angrily as he grabbed the guy by his jacket collar. "Help him! We've got to get him back to the hospital as soon as possible."

Money came up behind his brother as the medics began to work on treating Wes and then said, "You got him out of there alive, Travis. You did all you could for him. It's time to have faith in his will to survive. I've seen the man fight. He's strong."

Travis looked back at him as he replied, "Thank you Money, for coming in with me and for helping me save him. I owe you everything."

At the hospital…

It was almost four o'clock in the morning by the time a doctor came out of the operating room Travis' partner was brought into with word about his condition and the news wasn't good, but Wes was still alive, despite having flat lined once in the ambulance on their way there and then again while they operated on him. The doctor then went on to explain that they had placed him on a respirator to help him and that it will be a long recovery for him should he live through the next seventy-two hours.

Eight day later, the respirator was removed and a nose tube replaced it as Wes' recovery slowly continued and his body grew stronger, though he had yet to open his eyes. Twelve days passed and finally Wes slowly began to wake, but as soon as he felt the tubes in his arms, the tube beneath his nose, and began to become aware of his surroundings, he began to struggle as he attempted to rip the IV lines out of his arms until Travis rushed into the room and worked to try to calm him down, knowing that he was freaking out because of what his kidnapper had done to him.

"Take it easy Wes, it's me," he said softly as he forced him to look at him. "It's Travis. You're in a real hospital and you're safe. You're safe, I promise."

"Travis, I… What… what hap…" he tried to make out, but couldn't really as the pain in his chest and stomach was excruciating and forced him to lay back as he struggled to try to breathe through it.

Travis continued to hold him by his shoulders as he responded, "That son of a bitch nearly killed you Wes, but he's dead and you're going to be all right. I found you just in time. Just keep breathing through it. These IVs are here to help you, so let the drugs do their job."

Wes closed his eyes as the pain slowly began to decrease once Travis pushed the button to increase the amount of morphine he was being given, then finally opened them again and looked over at his partner, who asked, "Is that better?"

"Yeah," Wes answered. "Thank you."

"These drugs should be the good stuff, as I…" Travis replied until Wes placed his hand over his arm to cut him off.

Wes spoke again saying, "No, I mean… thank you… for saving me. I knew that you… would."

Travis smiled as he responded, "You would have done the same for me. I wasn't about to let some psycho creep harvest your organs. You're the closest thing I've got to a friend, which is just sad, but nonetheless it's true."

"He is telling the truth, in case you're looking for confirmation from a more reliable source," Dr. Ryan stated snidely as she walked in, followed by Captain Sutton, Money, Kendall, Amy, and Kate. "It's so good to see that you're going to be okay, Wes."

"You have no idea," Sutton answered in agreement. "How are you feeling, kid?"

Wes smiled at them as he weakly responded, "I've never been… happier… to be alive. Thank you… all of you… for your help."

Kendall began to tear up as she replied, "Things wouldn't be the same around the office without you. I don't know what we would have done if… if you…"

"Are you kidding, I solved the entire case without him," Travis quickly said when her emotions became too overwhelming for her to finish.

"Actually, we all solved the entire case," Kate retorted. "And it was mostly thanks to Kendall here."

She blushed as Wes looked at them and asked, "You figured out who killed… Kyle Moore?"

Travis spoke again as he answered, "It turns out that your old lawyer colleague did orchestrate the whole thing looking to have all that money for himself. He hired those thugs to kill him secretly, but Amy and Kate figured that out and they found our mysterious aunt, who died shortly after she set up the trust fund. She wasn't actually Kyle's aunt, but she gave her money to him before her cancer killed her because she felt she owed his father her life after he had saved her a long time ago during an accident. Everyone involved in Kyle's murder are now behind bars, as well as those involved with hurting you, except for the paramedic that took you. I killed him. It was a clean shoot."

"We were all very worried about you and have brought some gifts and get well cards and flowers for you, most of which are from the rest of our group," Emma spoke again. "We look forward to having you back when you're better."

"Thank you, all of you," Wes replied sincerely.

Travis patted his shoulder as he responded, "Welcome back, man."

Wes smiled and said, "I owe you… all. Anything… any of you need, just ask."

The End


	15. Thank You

Thank you to all of those who have read and have written reviews for my stories! They are much appreciated. I'm honored to have you all for fans and I hope to hear from you all again in the future, should you choose to read and enjoy more of my work. Best of wishes to you all!

Sincerely,

Genevieve Kelly


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